What is the claims process?

Free early years funding is made in two payments for each term:

An initial payment made at the beginning of the term based on estimated take-up

A second payment, during the second half of term, once all claims have been received and finalised

The initial payment:

The initial payment is usually based on 85% of the estimate that you provide at the beginning of the term.

You will receive an email informing you of the relevant dates and deadlines for the forthcoming term. Declaration forms are available to download on the right hand side of this page.

The Policy and Planning team will process the initial payment during the first week of term. This payment will then take up to 10 working days to reach your bank account.

Census dates are the third Thursday in January, the third Thursday in May and the first Thursday in October. Child funding details are to be submitted via the Online Provider Portal up until deadline stated in the funding email. There will be a short period after this date for you to check the data you have submitted is correct. The onus is on you, the provider, to ensure that you apply for the funding for a child either on full term or half term basis. It is important you make parents aware of these cut off dates and conditions of moving their children from setting to setting.

The final payment will be made during the second half of the term, once all overclaims are resolved and claims finalised.